June 29, 2024 • 17 mins
Infamous reality hit The Traitors NZ is set to return to our screens - alongside a familiar host.
Despite former broadcaster Paul Henry taking in luxury yachts, Palm Springs and plenty of gin in his semi-retirement, he just can't quit the series.
He says he didn't want to commit to any broadcasting roles, unless the right role turned up.
"When I was offered Traitors last year - it was just obviously the right project. It was a month's solid work, all care, no responsibilities. The franchise was just so good."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks edb Right.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Since he left broadcasting in twenty sixteen, Paul Henry has
been lapping up semi retirement. You know, luxury yachts, palm springs,
plenty of gin, but one tally show seems to be
getting in the way of outright retirement for Paul. Season
two of The Traders New Zealand is out tomorrow on
three and three now, and Paul Henry has been lured
back to host the show. He is worth me now
from somewhere in Northland. Good morning, Good to have you
(00:36):
with us.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Good good morning, Francesca. It's lovely to be here. I'm
talking to you from that. It's not quite sunny yet,
but it will be sunny very soon. In the Kuiper.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Have you ordered the Sun?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Have you?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Have you ordered it to pop out? It sort of
at EVA.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I ordered it for half an hour ago, so something slipped.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So were you lured back or was it a no
brainer for you to come back and do The Traders?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
You know, it completely set it into too. When I retired,
I said I will never again do daily, weekly or
monthly commitments, but if I said, if the right project
comes along, then I'll consider it. And when I was
offered traitors last year, I mean, it was just obviously
the right project. It was like a month solid work,
(01:22):
all care, no responsibility. The franchise was just so good
to be able to be at the beginning of something
like that, you know, a new breed of reality television
was just too good an opportunity to turn down. And
then there's that whole concealious thing like I don't know
about you, but you always think, you know, oh well,
(01:44):
I'll never be able to afford to do that again,
or you know, so this is a oner. And then
it comes around the next year, and I knew that
we were going to make it better, bigger and better
the next year for a range of reasons, and so
I just had to do it.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
No celebs this time, and no offense to the people
that turned up on season one, but I really like it.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Oh no, you're right, you're right. You know, I was
a little disappointed that we had celebrities in season one.
The American franchise only has celebrities. The British franchise never
have celebrities, and it is it is a much better
program for it, And so I was thrilled this year
(02:24):
that we were having those celebrities, because the thing is
the audience get to know the players as the players
get to know each other. And there's a certain magic
in that. You know that, and they become immersed in
the game much more quickly because they're not looking over
their shoulders at their persona to make sure that what
they're doing doesn't adversely affect their brand.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Now, I couldn't agree more. It's filled with a very
colorful and interesting bund is really fun to get to
know them. Hey, does strategy strategy actually matter in this game?
Because it looks like a lot of people overthinking things.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
To me, God, that is such a good question. That
is such a good question. And this time, a lot
of these people that we've got, they're obviously fans of
the show, fans of the format, which is why they applied,
and so they spent a lot of time watching overseas
programs and forming strategies. And the answer is, like with
(03:21):
so many things in life, you have to be true
to yourself. If you are playing a strategy, just remembering
that it's like acting rather than being yourself. You've got
to remember what are the half lies I'm telling? Who
was I yesterday? I've got to make sure that I
don't betray myself. So it is actually it's actually counterproductive
(03:41):
really to have anything of a complex strategy. It is
much better just to be yourself. If you happen to
be a traitor, then you have to be a lying
version of yourself. But the more you can anchor back
to how you actually are, the easier the gamers, and
the better the chance of winning the game you have.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
People really like being traitors, don't they? Or what I
love about it is watching people try and work out
other people try and work them out, be so sure
in their assessment, and you get it wrong, and it's
so wrong.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I know, I know it's fabulous, and you know they'll
see the slightest little thing and amplify that. You know,
we have a nature, right, well, I suppose it is.
And when you've got nothing else to go by, and
of course we've never done it, so we don't know
how hard it is. When you are completely surrounded with
(04:32):
a group of people you don't know, you're out of
your comfort zone, you can't talk to any of your family,
you're literally sequestered away. The only time you're in front
of these other people that you're with that you can
talk to and try and befriend is when cameras are
watching you. Apart from that, you're literally locked away on
your own overnight, and you know that there's a very
(04:53):
good chance that these people that you're trying to befriend
are actually going to murder you, are conspiring against you.
So it is hard to imagine just how hard this
game is to play.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Oh so much fun. Your own clothes, it's quite a wardrobe.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
A lot of them are my own clothes. But it's
like with everything, it's like I'm sort of acting, but
I'm acting as a more extreme version of myself. And
that's true of the clothes as well. I'm wearing a
slightly more extreme version of the clothes I would wear anyway.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Now, you couldn't be here in the studio today because
I believe you're up north. The reason is that you
were there because you want to be very close or
possibly already have been, to your pregnant daughter.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
I know.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So are you a grandfather again yet or.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
No, not yet? But literally any well, Okay, So the
fact of the matter is if she doesn't go into
labor naturally, she's in Fungarray Hospital. If she doesn't go
into labor naturally before tomorrow morning, she will be induced
tomorrow morning. She is as big as a mini skip.
She's huge, and it's time. It's time for these two
(06:01):
beautiful babies to be born.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I'm having flashbacks to sitting on the breakfast TV out
pregnant with my must have been I think it was
my first child, and you're just looking at me, going, goodness,
you're a whale.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, yeah, I know, And I sat there. I remember
sitting there thinking, no, that's going to come out of there.
You've got to get that out. But sooner the better
for you.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Bopa Whitzel and I were both bring it at the
same time, and you know you certainly you didn't certainly
didn't hold back with your compliments there. Do you love
being a granddad?
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah? I do. I do.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
And my two grandchildren, the two grandchildren I have are
in Melbourne. These two will be in New Zealand, which
will make it a little bit easier. But I don't.
I don't really, I'm going to be honest with you.
I don't care very much for little babies. You know
I need them to form little personalities and then I
just love them. But I think when they're little babies
it's for their immediate parents to worry about all the business.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Fair enough, don't you normally it's winter? Rightn't you normally
in Palm Springs?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
At this point, I know it's Bella's fault that I'm not.
I'm not. I got, I'm all booked, I'm ready to
fly out. But I haven't been in the New Zealand
winter for a long long time, to be honest. And
the sun is coming through now. This is a pretty
good winter, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
It's not too bad, It's not too bad. It hasn't
been too much of a shock to the system.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I've no, I've lucked out. Although it is very cold,
it's like it's in the mid forties at my place
in Palm Springs right at the moment, So this is
a weeny bit colder than that.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
We don't really care are these twins? Are these twines
going to keep you in New Zealand for a bit
longer or will you be getting back into heading back
to the States regularly?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
No, I'm I'm just here just to be a bit
of support. If I'm needed for you for the next
couple of weeks and then I'm off, because what can
I do? Then they're just lying there and requiring their
parents to run around.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Exactly. You can an hour at a photo sent to
you every day, and that's exactly you need to do
at this point.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, and I think, quite frankly, Bella will be pleased
to have me a few thousand miles away because I can.
I can. You'll find this very hard to believe, franchise,
but I can be annoying.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, No, I can't imagine. So heading back to the States,
are you then looking forward to just sitting and watching
this US election unfold, because it's certainly taken a little
sort of turning point in the last few days.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Well, I suppose it has. But then are any of
us surprised? I mean, frankly, I it was less of
a train wreck for Biden than I thought it could
have been. You know, you can over rehearse. I mean
it comes back to your question about traitors, and you know,
whether the strategies are held or a hindrance. I think
(08:42):
it's pretty clear that all of the effort that went
into Joe preparing him over days and days and days
and days sequested away with his team was not really
much of an the systems. What he needs is an
auto Q, and we saw how much better he was.
Still feeble, but how much better he was the next
day with an auto Q.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Do you think he'll stay or do you think he'll
step down?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
I was listening to you earlier, and I think you're
probably right. I think he will be very, very naturally,
very reluctant to step down, and it's a very tricky
process to force him out. And of course you know
it's down to the Democrats. How your question earlier was fabulous.
How is it that you know the second biggest democracy
(09:28):
in the world has ended up with these two old guys,
both of them extreme for different reasons. The Democrats have
done this to themselves. They've selected a vice president who
cannot win. They selected a president who shouldn't win, who
then select the vice president who cannot win. They're in
(09:49):
a real I think to quote you pickle, which.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Is such an understatement of a word, isn't it such?
Speaker 3 (09:58):
When you said that, I thought, yes, yes it is.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It's a pickle with no way out. State of America
better or worse. In New Zealand at the most.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Here's the difference with America. The reason that America will
almost always be better. And we're talking politically now, because
obviously there are so many things about New Zealand that
are better than America. But politically America is such a
big ship. It turns very, very slowly. So if things
turn negative. If I mean, look at Trump, who would
(10:32):
have thought you could have had an entire four year
presidency with Trump and actually nothing bad happened. There'll be
a lot of people that will try and argue with that,
But I don't care about those people. That's because it's
such a big ship. The difference with New Zealand is
we are perilously small, and if there is a bad change,
if there's a bad turn of events, if there's a
(10:53):
bad government, a bad selection of policies, we spin on
a dime in this country, and it takes us a
long time to get back. I mean, the financial situation
we're in at the moment, I don't know. We won't
if we do come back from it. I suspect we won't.
If we do, it won't be in my lifetime.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Is AX trying to will you to stand at the
next election.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Well, if they are, I wouldn't be interested in it,
not even remotely. I mean, God, that flies in the
face of my I don't want to do daily, weekly
or monthly.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Very good point, it doesn't, it doesn't even get past
the first tick on. You did say at the ACT
party conference speech a few weeks back that you think
this country is deeply in the you know, not a
good place. That's it. Do you seek any moves from
this current government that might sort of set us on
(11:43):
the right track.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
You know, I'm not hugely hopeful. I think there's been
a correction in the right direction, but it's been pretty minor.
And you know, as I said that in that speech,
and I want to stress I was there as an
invited speaker, not as a member of ACT. I think
I said in the speech, I'm no political party friend. Obviously,
(12:08):
I've never tried to hide the fact that I am.
It's a crunchy way of saying it, but I am
a right wing and always have been. But yes, I'm
no political party's friend. But we've been turned in the
right No, not in the right direction. We've been nudged,
We've been nudged on a slightly better track. But we
(12:29):
need we need significant change in this country. You know,
we have phenomenal problems and the challenges that we are
up against over the next few years are going to
be many and all consuming, and we are not set
up to handle them.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
News Hub wraps up this week. I think your daughter
Bella was working their prize to maternity leaves, was that right?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yes, yeah, yeah she was. Yeah. Yeah, she was in
charge of hair and makeup, which I don't think is
going to be a priority for the new the news setup.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
No, do you think it's going to work the staff
three bulletin.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
No, don't know. I don't. In fact, I'm sure it won't.
I mean, and how can it possibly work? This is
the problem with with the resistance. People have to change.
I mean you look at the people that were surprised
that news Hub closed. I mean, where have they been
(13:26):
for the last decade? Why would they be surprised? I mean,
when was the last time you went down to a
video library? I mean, when when's the last I mean
you're still a member of Easy Video. We can barely
remember the names of these platforms. You know, the Discovery
Warner brothers have been setting up their own platforms like
TV and Z. They've been desperately trying to populate people
(13:47):
onto their their digital platforms. Did they expect they were
going to be able to hold an audience on free
to air as well at the same time, No, they
should never have expected that. The fact is they waited
too long. TV and Z's in exactly the same position. Now.
I was reading yesterday about oh, you know there could
be more job carts. They've waited too long. It's bad,
bad management. The marketplace society has been directing them to
(14:13):
the future for the last decade, and they've they've had
blinkers on. They've been refusing to adapt.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Oh and dog, I think when I started in television
twenty five years ago, you know, people with a hick
lot more experience than I had set me down and
told me it's all going to change. And I sat
there for decades.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yes, yeah, yeah, and they say that, you know, it's
all going to child. We're going to spend some money.
We've we've got a website now, I mean, for goodness sake,
I mean even like Netflix are struggling, you know, because
there are so many more platforms coming online. Both you
and me have the ability for about five thousand dollars
to create a network online with more reach than either
(14:52):
TV and Z or or Discovery.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Now there's an idea.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no,
it's not an idea at all. I wish I hadn't better,
But you know what I mean, everyone's a broadcast, everyone
a publisher, and the future that we're living now has
been so well foreshadowed, and yet it's caught people by surprise.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Finally, finally, how's the gin going?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Good?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
This is downtime for gin. You know, winter gin is
not a gin, is not a winter drink. But I mean,
having said that, obviously you still you sell some, but
gin is very much a summer drink. And the economy
here is not great, and so I think probably the
cheaper gins are doing very well, the more expensive gins are.
In fact, I know this, the more expensive gins are
(15:41):
not doing very well at all. What I need is
new bottles. Here's an interesting thing, you know, with a book,
you know, the cover is all important, so arguably the label.
With spirits, particularly gin and vodka, the bottle is just
so important, more important than the label or anything, because
(16:03):
it is a It's like a prize possession and bottles
have let me down from the beginning for a whole
range of reasons that is not even remotely interesting. So
I won't talk about them, but I'm trying to get
some bespoke bottles organized now that you do have to
buy rather a lot bottles.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Well, look, when you get some more bottles coming in,
flip me a bottle of you don and then I
won't tell anyone everyone that we've done.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I do that.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
We're not going to need to do that now there's
my b.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
I certainly need to do that. Hey, enjoy Traders tonight.
It really is. Do you know what we've done? Not
tonight tomorrow night. What we've done is we've created something
truly world class, which when you're in a very expensive
franchise like Traders, and when you're up against franchises that
operate in Scottish castles, it's a tricky thing to do.
But we've absolutely nailed you have.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
I've only seen two episodes, but I am totally hooked.
So The Traders New Zealand season two is on three
Tomorrow from seven pm and then also streaming on three now.
Thank you so much, Paul Henry lovely to keet up
with you as always.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks at B from nine a m. Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks edb Right.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Since he left broadcasting in twenty sixteen, Paul Henry has
been lapping up semi retirement. You know, luxury yachts, palm springs,
plenty of gin, but one tally show seems to be
getting in the way of outright retirement for Paul. Season
two of The Traders New Zealand is out tomorrow on
three and three now, and Paul Henry has been lured
back to host the show. He is worth me now
from somewhere in Northland. Good morning, Good to have you
(00:36):
with us.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Good good morning, Francesca. It's lovely to be here. I'm
talking to you from that. It's not quite sunny yet,
but it will be sunny very soon. In the Kuiper.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Have you ordered the Sun?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Have you?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Have you ordered it to pop out? It sort of
at EVA.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I ordered it for half an hour ago, so something slipped.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So were you lured back or was it a no
brainer for you to come back and do The Traders?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
You know, it completely set it into too. When I retired,
I said I will never again do daily, weekly or
monthly commitments, but if I said, if the right project
comes along, then I'll consider it. And when I was
offered traitors last year, I mean, it was just obviously
the right project. It was like a month solid work,
(01:22):
all care, no responsibility. The franchise was just so good
to be able to be at the beginning of something
like that, you know, a new breed of reality television
was just too good an opportunity to turn down. And
then there's that whole concealious thing like I don't know
about you, but you always think, you know, oh well,
(01:44):
I'll never be able to afford to do that again,
or you know, so this is a oner. And then
it comes around the next year, and I knew that
we were going to make it better, bigger and better
the next year for a range of reasons, and so
I just had to do it.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
No celebs this time, and no offense to the people
that turned up on season one, but I really like it.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Oh no, you're right, you're right. You know, I was
a little disappointed that we had celebrities in season one.
The American franchise only has celebrities. The British franchise never
have celebrities, and it is it is a much better
program for it, And so I was thrilled this year
(02:24):
that we were having those celebrities, because the thing is
the audience get to know the players as the players
get to know each other. And there's a certain magic
in that. You know that, and they become immersed in
the game much more quickly because they're not looking over
their shoulders at their persona to make sure that what
they're doing doesn't adversely affect their brand.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Now, I couldn't agree more. It's filled with a very
colorful and interesting bund is really fun to get to
know them. Hey, does strategy strategy actually matter in this game?
Because it looks like a lot of people overthinking things.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
To me, God, that is such a good question. That
is such a good question. And this time, a lot
of these people that we've got, they're obviously fans of
the show, fans of the format, which is why they applied,
and so they spent a lot of time watching overseas
programs and forming strategies. And the answer is, like with
(03:21):
so many things in life, you have to be true
to yourself. If you are playing a strategy, just remembering
that it's like acting rather than being yourself. You've got
to remember what are the half lies I'm telling? Who
was I yesterday? I've got to make sure that I
don't betray myself. So it is actually it's actually counterproductive
(03:41):
really to have anything of a complex strategy. It is
much better just to be yourself. If you happen to
be a traitor, then you have to be a lying
version of yourself. But the more you can anchor back
to how you actually are, the easier the gamers, and
the better the chance of winning the game you have.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
People really like being traitors, don't they? Or what I
love about it is watching people try and work out
other people try and work them out, be so sure
in their assessment, and you get it wrong, and it's
so wrong.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I know, I know it's fabulous, and you know they'll
see the slightest little thing and amplify that. You know,
we have a nature, right, well, I suppose it is.
And when you've got nothing else to go by, and
of course we've never done it, so we don't know
how hard it is. When you are completely surrounded with
(04:32):
a group of people you don't know, you're out of
your comfort zone, you can't talk to any of your family,
you're literally sequestered away. The only time you're in front
of these other people that you're with that you can
talk to and try and befriend is when cameras are
watching you. Apart from that, you're literally locked away on
your own overnight, and you know that there's a very
(04:53):
good chance that these people that you're trying to befriend
are actually going to murder you, are conspiring against you.
So it is hard to imagine just how hard this
game is to play.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Oh so much fun. Your own clothes, it's quite a wardrobe.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
A lot of them are my own clothes. But it's
like with everything, it's like I'm sort of acting, but
I'm acting as a more extreme version of myself. And
that's true of the clothes as well. I'm wearing a
slightly more extreme version of the clothes I would wear anyway.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Now, you couldn't be here in the studio today because
I believe you're up north. The reason is that you
were there because you want to be very close or
possibly already have been, to your pregnant daughter.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
I know.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So are you a grandfather again yet or.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
No, not yet? But literally any well, Okay, So the
fact of the matter is if she doesn't go into
labor naturally, she's in Fungarray Hospital. If she doesn't go
into labor naturally before tomorrow morning, she will be induced
tomorrow morning. She is as big as a mini skip.
She's huge, and it's time. It's time for these two
(06:01):
beautiful babies to be born.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I'm having flashbacks to sitting on the breakfast TV out
pregnant with my must have been I think it was
my first child, and you're just looking at me, going, goodness,
you're a whale.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, yeah, I know, And I sat there. I remember
sitting there thinking, no, that's going to come out of there.
You've got to get that out. But sooner the better
for you.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Bopa Whitzel and I were both bring it at the
same time, and you know you certainly you didn't certainly
didn't hold back with your compliments there. Do you love
being a granddad?
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah? I do. I do.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
And my two grandchildren, the two grandchildren I have are
in Melbourne. These two will be in New Zealand, which
will make it a little bit easier. But I don't.
I don't really, I'm going to be honest with you.
I don't care very much for little babies. You know
I need them to form little personalities and then I
just love them. But I think when they're little babies
it's for their immediate parents to worry about all the business.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Fair enough, don't you normally it's winter? Rightn't you normally
in Palm Springs?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
At this point, I know it's Bella's fault that I'm not.
I'm not. I got, I'm all booked, I'm ready to
fly out. But I haven't been in the New Zealand
winter for a long long time, to be honest. And
the sun is coming through now. This is a pretty
good winter, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
It's not too bad, It's not too bad. It hasn't
been too much of a shock to the system.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I've no, I've lucked out. Although it is very cold,
it's like it's in the mid forties at my place
in Palm Springs right at the moment, So this is
a weeny bit colder than that.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
We don't really care are these twins? Are these twines
going to keep you in New Zealand for a bit
longer or will you be getting back into heading back
to the States regularly?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
No, I'm I'm just here just to be a bit
of support. If I'm needed for you for the next
couple of weeks and then I'm off, because what can
I do? Then they're just lying there and requiring their
parents to run around.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Exactly. You can an hour at a photo sent to
you every day, and that's exactly you need to do
at this point.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, and I think, quite frankly, Bella will be pleased
to have me a few thousand miles away because I can.
I can. You'll find this very hard to believe, franchise,
but I can be annoying.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, No, I can't imagine. So heading back to the States,
are you then looking forward to just sitting and watching
this US election unfold, because it's certainly taken a little
sort of turning point in the last few days.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Well, I suppose it has. But then are any of
us surprised? I mean, frankly, I it was less of
a train wreck for Biden than I thought it could
have been. You know, you can over rehearse. I mean
it comes back to your question about traitors, and you know,
whether the strategies are held or a hindrance. I think
(08:42):
it's pretty clear that all of the effort that went
into Joe preparing him over days and days and days
and days sequested away with his team was not really
much of an the systems. What he needs is an
auto Q, and we saw how much better he was.
Still feeble, but how much better he was the next
day with an auto Q.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Do you think he'll stay or do you think he'll
step down?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
I was listening to you earlier, and I think you're
probably right. I think he will be very, very naturally,
very reluctant to step down, and it's a very tricky
process to force him out. And of course you know
it's down to the Democrats. How your question earlier was fabulous.
How is it that you know the second biggest democracy
(09:28):
in the world has ended up with these two old guys,
both of them extreme for different reasons. The Democrats have
done this to themselves. They've selected a vice president who
cannot win. They selected a president who shouldn't win, who
then select the vice president who cannot win. They're in
(09:49):
a real I think to quote you pickle, which.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Is such an understatement of a word, isn't it such?
Speaker 3 (09:58):
When you said that, I thought, yes, yes it is.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It's a pickle with no way out. State of America
better or worse. In New Zealand at the most.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Here's the difference with America. The reason that America will
almost always be better. And we're talking politically now, because
obviously there are so many things about New Zealand that
are better than America. But politically America is such a
big ship. It turns very, very slowly. So if things
turn negative. If I mean, look at Trump, who would
(10:32):
have thought you could have had an entire four year
presidency with Trump and actually nothing bad happened. There'll be
a lot of people that will try and argue with that,
But I don't care about those people. That's because it's
such a big ship. The difference with New Zealand is
we are perilously small, and if there is a bad change,
if there's a bad turn of events, if there's a
(10:53):
bad government, a bad selection of policies, we spin on
a dime in this country, and it takes us a
long time to get back. I mean, the financial situation
we're in at the moment, I don't know. We won't
if we do come back from it. I suspect we won't.
If we do, it won't be in my lifetime.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Is AX trying to will you to stand at the
next election.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Well, if they are, I wouldn't be interested in it,
not even remotely. I mean, God, that flies in the
face of my I don't want to do daily, weekly
or monthly.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Very good point, it doesn't, it doesn't even get past
the first tick on. You did say at the ACT
party conference speech a few weeks back that you think
this country is deeply in the you know, not a
good place. That's it. Do you seek any moves from
this current government that might sort of set us on
(11:43):
the right track.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
You know, I'm not hugely hopeful. I think there's been
a correction in the right direction, but it's been pretty minor.
And you know, as I said that in that speech,
and I want to stress I was there as an
invited speaker, not as a member of ACT. I think
I said in the speech, I'm no political party friend. Obviously,
(12:08):
I've never tried to hide the fact that I am.
It's a crunchy way of saying it, but I am
a right wing and always have been. But yes, I'm
no political party's friend. But we've been turned in the
right No, not in the right direction. We've been nudged,
We've been nudged on a slightly better track. But we
(12:29):
need we need significant change in this country. You know,
we have phenomenal problems and the challenges that we are
up against over the next few years are going to
be many and all consuming, and we are not set
up to handle them.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
News Hub wraps up this week. I think your daughter
Bella was working their prize to maternity leaves, was that right?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yes, yeah, yeah she was. Yeah. Yeah, she was in
charge of hair and makeup, which I don't think is
going to be a priority for the new the news setup.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
No, do you think it's going to work the staff
three bulletin.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
No, don't know. I don't. In fact, I'm sure it won't.
I mean, and how can it possibly work? This is
the problem with with the resistance. People have to change.
I mean you look at the people that were surprised
that news Hub closed. I mean, where have they been
(13:26):
for the last decade? Why would they be surprised? I mean,
when was the last time you went down to a
video library? I mean, when when's the last I mean
you're still a member of Easy Video. We can barely
remember the names of these platforms. You know, the Discovery
Warner brothers have been setting up their own platforms like
TV and Z. They've been desperately trying to populate people
(13:47):
onto their their digital platforms. Did they expect they were
going to be able to hold an audience on free
to air as well at the same time, No, they
should never have expected that. The fact is they waited
too long. TV and Z's in exactly the same position. Now.
I was reading yesterday about oh, you know there could
be more job carts. They've waited too long. It's bad,
bad management. The marketplace society has been directing them to
(14:13):
the future for the last decade, and they've they've had
blinkers on. They've been refusing to adapt.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Oh and dog, I think when I started in television
twenty five years ago, you know, people with a hick
lot more experience than I had set me down and
told me it's all going to change. And I sat
there for decades.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yes, yeah, yeah, and they say that, you know, it's
all going to child. We're going to spend some money.
We've we've got a website now, I mean, for goodness sake,
I mean even like Netflix are struggling, you know, because
there are so many more platforms coming online. Both you
and me have the ability for about five thousand dollars
to create a network online with more reach than either
(14:52):
TV and Z or or Discovery.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Now there's an idea.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no,
it's not an idea at all. I wish I hadn't better,
But you know what I mean, everyone's a broadcast, everyone
a publisher, and the future that we're living now has
been so well foreshadowed, and yet it's caught people by surprise.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Finally, finally, how's the gin going?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Good?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
This is downtime for gin. You know, winter gin is
not a gin, is not a winter drink. But I mean,
having said that, obviously you still you sell some, but
gin is very much a summer drink. And the economy
here is not great, and so I think probably the
cheaper gins are doing very well, the more expensive gins are.
In fact, I know this, the more expensive gins are
(15:41):
not doing very well at all. What I need is
new bottles. Here's an interesting thing, you know, with a book,
you know, the cover is all important, so arguably the label.
With spirits, particularly gin and vodka, the bottle is just
so important, more important than the label or anything, because
(16:03):
it is a It's like a prize possession and bottles
have let me down from the beginning for a whole
range of reasons that is not even remotely interesting. So
I won't talk about them, but I'm trying to get
some bespoke bottles organized now that you do have to
buy rather a lot bottles.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Well, look, when you get some more bottles coming in,
flip me a bottle of you don and then I
won't tell anyone everyone that we've done.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I do that.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
We're not going to need to do that now there's
my b.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
I certainly need to do that. Hey, enjoy Traders tonight.
It really is. Do you know what we've done? Not
tonight tomorrow night. What we've done is we've created something
truly world class, which when you're in a very expensive
franchise like Traders, and when you're up against franchises that
operate in Scottish castles, it's a tricky thing to do.
But we've absolutely nailed you have.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
I've only seen two episodes, but I am totally hooked.
So The Traders New Zealand season two is on three
Tomorrow from seven pm and then also streaming on three now.
Thank you so much, Paul Henry lovely to keet up
with you as always.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks at B from nine a m. Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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